I knew the blocks would need to be larger sized (There is nothing worse than cutting a large print in to shapes so small that you can no longer see what the print looks like!) so instead of starting with a block size I started with the size the finished quilt would need to be. 100" x 100" to fit Uncle B's bed and cover both him and his two Chihuahuas. So with a little trial and error I decided on 12" squares and a small framing border to give me a 102" x 102" quilt.
I came up with a few different design options and gave Uncle B the last choice on which one he liked the best. I purchased (way to much!) fabric and got started on cutting it right away as Aunt G had decided it would be a great quilt to have in my guild's quilt show which was like two weeks later!
My Aunt is a amazing piecer of quilts, no really she does it pretty darn fast and does it pretty darn good (at least according to the judges of the quilt show) Once everything was cut and marked it took her less than two days to do the piecing. It took me about five minutes to mess up the quilting. No really I messed it up pretty good. the first to blocks had to be unquilted (what takes two minutes to quilt can take HOURS to take out by the way!) and requilted. Then as Aunt G was adding the binding she noticed the quilt made a noise. Yap a noise. Apparently someone (who shall remain nameless) somehow quilted a piece of paper INSIDE of the quilt between the batting and the backing fabric. At this point it was to late to fix the paper problem so we decided to let it go until after the show was over. In the end it was ready the night before it would need to be turned in to the quilt show or was it?
As a member of the Crossroads Quilters Guild of Effingham IL. I get the privilege of being around during the time the quilts are being hung. So walking around the show floor i noticed the guys from the convention center were hanging the Shooting Stars quilt. Yes it make me smile a bit to see one of my own quilts on display but his time all I could do was loudly say "Well Crap!" You see the quilt was missing a little something. Nothing major but still it was missing something that I knew the judges would rake me over the coals on. Someone (again this someone will remain nameless!) forgot to quilt a block. That is correct, one whole block was left unquilted. And between the light that just happened to hit the quilt dead on and the puffy batting that I used, it stood out like a sore thumb. By that point I had given up hope on this quilt, after all its problems up until now there was just no way I was going to ask them to take it down so I could rush it home, fix the empty block, and get it back bright and early the next morning so it could be hung with the other quilts before the judges started judging at 7:00am. So I left it hanging, With all it goof ups and loose threads at a quilt show. Just so a lot of people I know and have quilted for could see it and have a good laugh.
On the plus side the judges said nothing about it but I am positive they noticed it. On the down side every other person I knew took the enjoyment of dragging me to the quilt every few minutes to point it out to me. To my surprise was how many people asked me if there was a pattern available. The quilt may not have been as perfect as I wanted it to be but everyone seemed to like the design of it at least!
A few days after the show I took it back out and decided the easiest way to fix the paper problem was to remove some more of the quilting, cut a slit in the back and remove the paper. It took three nights of setting in front of the TV with a seam ripper and my tiny snips to remove enough quilting to get to the paper. It took about three minutes to cut the backing open and pull out the sticky backed paper from a lint roller that was stuck to the batting. I simply covered the spot with a bit of scrap fabric left from making the quilt then requilted the area as well as quilted the spot that I forgot in the first place.
When Kristina (owner of The Wooden Spool) first asked if she could display the quilt I was like "Sure, No Problem" but that was before the quilt was even finished and there was still high hopes that it would be perfect. By the time it was fixed I wasn't sure I wanted anyone to see it again! Kristina still wanted it however so I bagged it up and took it into the shop this past Saturday. If you would like to see it first hand just run in and take a look. Just don't wait to long as I am not sure how long it will be on display. Just do me one favor and don't look at the back of the quilt or to close at the front!
For those of you that asked for a pattern you can download a free PDF copy on Google Drive here:
Shooting Stars
There are bound to be mistakes in the pattern so if you find one please let me know and I will fix it right up! All I ask is that you do not sell any quilts that you make from the pattern. You are free to make as many as you wish for personal use, gifting, or to make & give to charity. But please don't sell them!
If you are interested in the EQ7 file let me know and I will try to get it posted as well!
This pattern was based on a hand sketched block that I found on,a lose piece of paper floating in one of my Grandmother's old quilting books. Her block was made with lots of Y seams so I changed it up a bit to make it easier to piece.
